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Today’s Fruit of the Spirit was Kindness. I apologize for going directly into the next day, I jumped the gun. It has been a long day. My write up for kindness was sent to my team members last night. I have to admit myself they are so closely entwined.

Day 5: Fruit of the Spirit (KINDNESS) The Bible says, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31) You have to love in order to be kind. That is why LOVE is the first Fruit of the Spirit to grow in. Now we are at day 5, I challenge you to show kindness to someone who you have challenges with every time you encounter them. God is Love. You can be too. “Hit the Grow Walking”

Day 6: Fruit of the Spirit (GOODNESS)
The Bible says, “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge”
(2 Peter 1:5). Today, we pray for our kids. We want good kids – not just smart kids. We pray that our schools will teach knowledge and virtue. Walk to a local school, a day-care center or the library. As you walk, pray that God will lead educators to model and teach good character as well as academic excellence. If the Spirit leads you, send a local principal, dean, teacher or staff member a note or e-mail of thanks and encouragement. Go the Extra Mile: Invite a girl in
your life to take a walk with you. As you walk, listen to her. Serve as a mentor on the trail. Ask her what she cares about. Give her positive feedback, good advice and kind words. (Source: www.girltrek.org)

There is a good study on the Goodness of God and the Study of Psalms 107. So as you complete your walk today, why not turn to Psalms 107 to read and meditate on it. Then download or read on line the paper written by Ron Hutchison.

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Today’s Fruit of the Spirit is “Peace”. In Greek the word is EIRENE and pronounced I-ray-ray…meaning prosperity, quietness, rest, or to be set at one with yourself again. I like the last description, “to be set at one with yourself again”.

It is so hard to stay within your wants and desires in life, let alone work on figuring out God’s design for your life. The beauty of doing this walk allowed me to think about peace. The nine Fruit of the Spirit are characters which we receive from the Holy Spirit to walk in the character of Christ. I know I have not matured in all the ways of all nine fruit. I do however recognize my growth in my walk with Christ.

Peace manifests itself in my heart and radiates through my body, my mind and my spirit because of my growing relationship with Christ. I still have a bad temper, nevertheless it has been reduced by my growth in my fruit Love and Joy. I love the God with all of my heart, mind, soul and spirit. I find joy just by know He has forgiven me and will continue to forgive me my bad decisions and choices made in the past, and will make in the future. I know my bad choices in behavior and attitude result in disappointment in my relationships with people, especially my family. However, I also know as soon as I go to the Lord and ask forgiveness and understanding, He uses it as a teaching moment and those incidents have happened less and less. The anger and hurt are no longer present, just realization at that moment, “it is what it is” and I cannot change them or the situation.

I have peace within me and that is all that matters.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

On Day 2 of the 9 Day Prayer – Observing the Fruit of the Spirit. Our prayer focus is JOY! We (Shanice and I) met Yvette who inspired us to walk beyond the 30 minutes and walk 4 miles. Yvette was in a car accident 12/2012 and is now up to four miles a day. She sparked such joy in our hearts, we were committed to do no less.

Joy comes without fanfare or pronouncement. When it does, it makes me feel wonderfully alive. My joy begins by acknowledging God’s beauty and handiwork. His precious gift of mercy and compassion. I know for some it may seem that he does not answer prayer, nevertheless, I can assure you he does. Yvette found herself in a position December, 2012 that changed her life. I do not know the whole story behind her car accident, yet I know other stories to understand the difficulty it takes to learn to walk again. I am now thinking about a dear friend, Donald who was in a car accident in the beginning of April. On Thursday, April 20th, I received a telephone call from Donald. I returned his call the next day. Donald had been in a car accident on April 4th and just woke from a coma. He now has to learn how to walk again. He is a gifted artist and God spared his life. We are working on a book project together, and that was one of the first words out of his mouth. “Mrs. Smart, we have to get my project done.”

Yvette gives me encouragement that Donald will walk again. I will be meeting with a videographer to put together a fundraising campaign for Donald. He is out of work now and will need help financing his project. I will do what I can do. I just know that during and at the end of the project, there will be exceeding Joy. The Lord gives us challenges so we can grow. My heart is continually fueled by the joy of the people and projects he delivers to my door step.

Tomorrow’s walk focuses on PEACE. Peace is one of the most challenging Fruit of the Spirit, because our days are filled with negative interactions in our home, our jobs and in the world. 2 Corinthians 10:30 says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.” God’s will is for us to address our issues through Love, the first Fruit of the Spirit; and Peace. Unfortunately, we are disobedient most times and wage war using our own understanding.

Tomorrow we walk praying for the knowledge of how to grow in the spirit of Peace. I hope you join in the movement to walk for your health; spiritually, as well as, physically.

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On Wednesday, I had lunch with a young lady, Faye Paige Edwards, who I grew up with in Germantown, one of Philly’s surrounding neighborhoods. We had not seen each other in over 40 years. Yes, I said 40 years. We had a wonderful lunch and conversation. During our conversation, Faye told me about her passion for leading a healthy life and her involvement in the Girl Trek Movement. For the past seven years, I have been an active participant in the Morinda’s Tahitian Noni business where I learned a lot about health and wellness, and I have been really consistent in drinking the juice and using the other healthy products. Unfortunately, I have been inconsistent in my physical exercise. So when I Faye explained the Girl Trek Movement to me, I signed up right at the table.

I am a free spirit who has been self-employed for 29 1/2 years. That is a long time to call your own shots. Not all of my decisions have been winners; and I am blessed the Lord has seen fit to allow me to do what I truly love as a vocation and avocation. The idea is to do something for 30 minutes a day; walk, run, bike or swim. I started walking yesterday for my first 30 minute session.

Girl Trek’s Story and their creed: “We are sick. We are down, but we are not out. Not by a long shot. We believe in the power of Black women to heal ourselves. We believe that we have everything we need to turn this health crisis upside down. We believe that the way forward is with inspiring everyday women to stand a health leaders in their communities and role models for their daughters. We believe in practical steps forward – in walking, in sweating out our perms, in finding time every single day to do something good for ourselves.”

As I posted on my facebook page this morning; I am serious about my health…I stepped up to a national platform by joining Girl Trek. Wilson-Smart symbolizes my life between the dashes. I was born a Wilson and now I am a Smart. People know me as One Smart Lady. Join me atwww.girltrek.org. You do not have to walk with me. Just walk in your neighborhood or favorite park.